


Lucy goes to Hogwarts

by defnearas



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fix-It, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Pre-Slash, Prophetic Dreams, Visions, hints at eventual Harry/Draco
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-07
Updated: 2017-06-07
Packaged: 2018-11-07 18:58:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11065125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/defnearas/pseuds/defnearas
Summary: An eleven-year-old girl has a vision of Harry Potter's life at Hogwarts. She decides to change what is to come but she is scared of changing too much because she does not want to change the result of the war. This is the story of how she gets to Hogwarts.





	Lucy goes to Hogwarts

**Author's Note:**

> I have not done this before. I don't really know what I'm doing. I really want to write up what she does after she starts Hogwarts. I know roughly what happens. But I don't know I could actually pull of writing that. So this story ends before the Hogwarts Express reaches its destination. 
> 
> I guess I just wanted to see if people would even be interested in Lucy's story. Or in my weird writing style. Plus, I have always been on the receiving end of fandoms. I wanted to be productive. I think all fan fic authors are lovely people who make strangers smile. And I'm rambling. Can you tell I haven't done this before?
> 
> *edit* I changed the story a bit

Lucy was huffing and puffing as she hiked. This really was the worst way possible to spent the day she was going to die. She thought a lot about it, how she wanted to end it. She narrowed it down to two options. One, spending the day watching her favorite shows and movies and eating her favorite type of junk food and ending it with a bottle of pills. Two, jumping off of a cliff after spending hours hiking IN NATURE. Ugh! She is not one for hiking or nature. Nature has bugs and hiking is just aimless walking. Except this time it would not be so aimless, now would it? She might not have been spending her last day being deliciously lazy BUT she would get to fly! Flying was going to be the last thing she ever did and the idea thrilled her. She finally reached the cliff. She sat there with her legs crossed and took out a peanut butter and nutella sandwich (her favorite). She had planned this to a “t”. She was gonna take some time resting and she was going to enjoy the freedom. “It’s almost over. It’s almost over.” She kept whispering to herself with a big smile. Knowing that it was almost over made her exuberant. She watched the sun set. She lied on her back and watched the stars for a while. Then, she gathered up all her courage. She got up and stood by the cliff. She looked down. “Wow, I am going to fly for at least five minutes!” she remarked. This was bittersweet. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. Then, she was hit by a lighting bolt (during a cloudless, starry night) or at least it felt like she was hit by a lighting bolt. 

She saw a little house with the number four on it. She saw the insides of the house. She saw a set of stairs and a little door under the stairs. She did not know why her attention was drawn to that weird shaped door. Maybe it was the locks on it. They were not the type of locks that needed a key so they were not made for keeping people out. This meant that they were there to keep something in? It could be to keep pets in. Maybe they had a cat or a dog and the family needed to put the pet away for their guests who were allergic. It made Lucy sad. The guests’ allergies would not be the pet’s fault and she was sure the pet would not appreciate this kind of treatment. Some people are assholes, she thought. Then, a woman came out of what probably was the kitchen. She knocked on the door and said “Get up!”. Lucy’s vision zoomed in and pass the door. The closet under the stairs had a make shift bed and there was a boy around her age sleeping on it. Lucy could feel her tears escaping her closed eyes. The boy had messy black hair like Lucy’s. The woman could be heard yelling “Wake up this instant Harry!”. Harry (Lucy made an educated guess on his name) opened his emerald eyes and started getting up. 

And this was how Lucy was introduced to Harry Potter.

Lucy watched the funny stuff with the Hogwarts letters. She watched as Hagrid saved Harry from those awful people. She watched Harry get sorted into Gryffindor. She watched the incidences with the troll and the philosopher’s stone. She watched Harry grow up. She watched Harry find a decent family member, his godfather, only to lose him again. She watched as Cedric died to protect Harry and as Dumbledore died to protect Draco. She watched as Harry died to save the world and came back to finish his job. She watched as so many others died. People, Lucy have been watching grow up along with Harry. 

After the battle was definitely won, she screamed “Enough!” as she could not watch how the death toll was breaking people. She had been sobbing for a while. Her throat was sore. She took a couple of steps back, fell on her knees and kept sobbing until no more sound or tears came out of her anymore. 

She woke up thanks to the bright light of dawn. She did not even realize she fell asleep. She drank some water. Her throat and her eyes were killing her. “Oh, right! My plan!” she thought. “What am I supposed to do now?” She did not want to go through with it right now. She wanted to know what had happened. A dream most probably. But who sees dreams, which feel so real, while awake? And who feels this different after a dream? Nevertheless, she packed up her stuff and started hiking back home. 

No one was home when she got there. “Quelle surprise!” she croaked. She went to her room and got into bed -*-started to write down everything she remembered. 

It took her some time to realize how different she was exactly now. She knew the moment she woke up on that cliff that she was not the same Lucy that hiked up that hill but she couldn’t put her finger on why she felt that way. Now, she was more aware of the differences. The most blatant difference was that she knew more. She kept thinking on random things she saw in her dream and looking them up in encyclopedias. They all seemed to be true. She knew more about London’s geography, about history, about literature and about so many other things. Things the characters in her dreams learnt or talked about. That was quite neat. (Lucy used to read encyclopedias and dictionaries for fun. She loved learning and knowledge.) Another difference, which was a lot more subtle, was that she felt older, more mature, more jaded. Watching Harry for seven years felt as long as seven years, even though it probably took only minutes. She felt like she lived those seven years. She felt calmer and more assured of herself. She thought about what she said and how she acted more. Most importantly, she felt more hopeful. The problems that drove her to the cliff did not feel earth shattering anymore. So what if her parents did not care about her? So what if they were mean to her? Harry survived abusive family members and so could she. She felt like this was actually doable, she could actually survive her parents, especially because she did not think like a child anymore. Children crave the love acceptance of their parents and they think so highly of their parents that they think their parents can do no wrong. When she was 4 and her father grabbed her arm angrily, she thought it was her fault and that she deserved it. She thought the same when her mom beat her with a ruler two months ago. She had tried to give her toys to a poor girl in her neighborhood. Her mom “rightly” got mad at Lucy for not respecting all that they do for her. Lucy thought at the time that she was broken. She did not understand where her mom was coming from because she was broken. She could not think properly. Now, she could see that she used to be a quixotic child, which can be annoying at times but does not warrant to be beat with a mother-fucking ruler. Now, Lucy could possibly act smarter and avoid her parents’ wrath. She could try to be as invisible as possible. She would not get upset or angry in front of them anymore now that she has more self control. The insults, which cut deep before when she thought that they must be true since they came from her parents, would only be weightless words. She almost did not survive her parents when she was Lucy-before-Harry. But now she was Lucy-after-Harry. She was different. She was more knowledgable, more mature and more hopeful. Her parents were not going to win this war. She made the parallel in her mind that her parents were Voldemort and she was Harry. She almost died but now she was back stronger than ever and she was going to survive. 

One of the reasons she felt more hopeful was that she felt less alone. She would deny this because it sounds crazy and childish but she felt Harry’s presence always in her heart now. She felt like he was the little brother she never had. They even shared a birthday!! She had no more love left in her heart for her parents but it was still full of love. Full of love for Harry, Ron, Hermione, the Weasley twins, Neville, Luna, all the Weasleys really, Cedric, Draco, the professors at Hogwarts, Sirius, Lupin, the other students. But she did not dwell on these feelings too much. She still did not know what exactly that dream was. 

That is until an owl tapped on her window on the day of her birthday. 

Her parents were traveling so she was alone at home with the maid, who never particularly cared about Lucy. Honestly, it was the best birthday gift her parents could ever give her: their absence. Her first thought that day had been ‘Happy birthday to us, Harry.” She had been out of it most morning. Thinking about Harry and the never ending letters. Seeing the owl almost gave her an heart attack. She tried to shake the feeling of deja-vu and got up her bed. As she was walking towards the window, she realized that she had bitten her lip so hard that it was now bleeding. She couldn’t feel any pain though. She did not feel anything. She was in shock. She was sure that she was not even walking and that she was gliding in the air towards the window. She opened the window and invited the owl in. At least, that’s what she hoped her hand gestured would be construed as by the owl. The owl came in, dropped a letter and then left. Lucy reached out to the letter with trepidation. She knew, she just knew what that letter was. She started crying as she read her invitation to Hogwarts. 

This letter changed everything. It was already weird that the things she learnt from the dream turned out to be true but the fact that Hogwarts existed meant that the dream was not a “dream” at all. So what was it then? The only options before was that it was either a dream or a side effect of a stroke or something. But now that magic was real meant that this dream could have been a premonition or a vision of the past. This would mean that THE PEOPLE IN HER “DREAM” COULD BE REAL!!! HARRY COULD BE REAL!!!

This letter also changed her future. When she was a little kid, she thought things would get better. She was wrong. Then, she thought she could just end it and finally be at peace. She couldn’t bring herself to do it after her “dream”. Now, she had resigned herself to hell of a life for the next 7 years. She felt strong enough that she thought she could survive these years but was definitely not enthusiastic about the prospect of seven years in hell. This letter, though, meant that she had another option. She could escape from her hellhole and be on the other side of Europe for these 7 years far away from her parents. This thought was exhilarating. She could end her suffering without dying. She did not have to be miserable for the next 7 years. 

It’s not like she did not consider running away before settling on the cliff. But where could an almost eleven year old go and be safe? The only answer she had come up with was ‘nowhere’. That was why she was going to end it. It would have been cleaner than ending up on the streets getting murdered or starving to death. But now, she HAD somewhere she could go to. She could just run away to Hogwarts. By the time she graduated, she would be old enough to take care of herself. This was perfect. This was a way out! 

She thought about talking to her parents about sending her to Hogwarts but decided against it. She had no reason to trust them to do right by her. Moreover, if they said no and she ran away to Hogwarts anyways, than they would know where to find her. Besides, she loved the idea of being rid of her parents. She was feeling done with their violent ways and them in general. Especially, now that she could see that there really was no excuse to be violent towards one’s child. 

Her first big obstacle was how to get to England. Her parents had moved to Eastern Europe when she was very little. Her parents still visited London sometimes seeing that they were both born and raised in UK. They sometimes took her with them. She wished she knew the timeline of her “dream”. If the people there were still alive, maybe she could ask for help from one of them. Figuring that out required getting in touch with the magic world but she did not know anything about where magic was in her city. Unfortunately, she was not omnipotent. She only knew things she saw in her “dream”. If she was in London, she could get herself to the Diagon Alley but she had no other means of contacting the magic world. 

Okay then. Her first obstacle was to get to London. She could either convince her parents to take a family trip to London or convince them to send her to London. They rarely ever took her on trips and they never sent her away by herself before. ‘How would that even work’ she thought. ‘Who sends their child alone to a foreign country?’ Then it hit her. Summer camp!!! She remembered that last year a girl in her class went to a week long camp in London. It was either for art or space… She called her classmate and found out that she was going this year again in august. She got all the details from her and cooked a plan. 

⚡  
ᒡ◯ᵔ◯ᒢ

When her parents came back from their trip, she begged them for days to go to this camp. There was the danger of coming off too annoying but her parents were usually happier after a trip. At the end, it did not take a lot to convince them. Money was not really an issue for her family. The idea that they would be child-less for a whole week at home must have sounded enticing to her parents. The day before Lucy was supposed to leave for the camp, she broke into the safe in her parents’ room. She grabbed bills of cash as well as some of the jewelry that was in there. Not the heirloom stuff but the newer looking stuff. She was not even ashamed. The way she saw it, the jewelry was her compensation for years of torture. If they were living in UK, her parents might have been even sent to jail. Her parents were getting off easy in her humble opinion. Her parents did not fly with her to London. They, however, did arrange the camp to pick her up from the airport. 

She did not have to wait long for her luggage at the Heathrow airport. After she grabbed it, she went into the bathroom. She got into the largest stall, which was so big that it was not a tight fit even with the luggage and the carry-on. She double-checked that the jewelry was still hidden in her carry-on. Then, she took off her shoes and socks. She hid the cash inside her socks just to be safe. She changed into her mother’s clothes and drank the aging potion she had prepared. This was the only potion she could get the ingredients for. While they were a bit weird, they were not magical. Her first idea was the polyjuice potion, perhaps because she thought the incident with the cat hair was too funny. But it required a lot of time and magical ingredients Lucy would not be able to get her hands on. Plus, the aging potion was a smarter option anyways: no picking up hair that might turn out to be cat hair. She thanked the Weasley twins, fixed her outfit and calmly left the airport with her luggages ignoring the people who were looking for the younger version of her. 

She took a cab to the Leaky Cauldron. She waited a while until it was open. She went straight to the Junk Shop. She thought about exchanging her money at the bank but was wary of the wards that might be set up there. She couldn’t risk getting her cover blown so she thought of another way to get a bit of galleons to get her plan started. 

The owner of the shop looked like a jolly man with white hair and beard. Lucy started calling him Santa in her head. Since he reminded her of Santa Clause. Not that Lucy believed in that sort of thing. 

She approached the man behind the counter. “Hi, sir. I was wondering if you could help me.” Her voice sounded so foreign. 

“What is it dear? I promise you that I will at least try.” said Santa. Lucy took out the simplest piece of jewelry she had. It was her baby bracelet. It was white gold with the initials TLT and her birthstone. It was simple enough that it wouldn’t draw too much attention to her. Plus, she felt like it was poetic that her baby bracelet would be the first thing that financed her escape from her parents. She got 20 galleons for it. She couldn’t help the stupid grin on her face as she left the shop. 

“Next stop: Eeylops Owl Emporium” she mumbled. She briskly got to the shop. She looked over the owls and chose one that she thought looked like a penguin. She pointed to the owl “That one, please.” She had already named it in her head “Emperor the Penguin”.

The shop owner came over. “A nice barn owl. Excellent choice! That will be 10 galleons.” His tone made her realize that she must have started de-aging. He sounded too jovial to be addressing a middle aged witch. 

She took out ten galleons. “Would you mind providing me with a piece of paper and a quill? I have urgent business that needs attending. ”

He smiled “Of course not. I would be honored to have aided the first delivery of this magnificent bird.” 

She smiled back. He gave her a piece of paper and a letter as well as a quill. She looked down at the paper. She was starting doubt herself. What if they were all dead? Like what if the vision she had was of 50 years ago? But the muggle London of the vision did look familiar. It didn’t look decades old. She held on to the envelop. 

“You know of Harry Potter, right?” she asked. She was all nervous energy. This was going to be the first time she got confirmation for the people in her vision. The shop owner nodded looking thoughtful. ‘HE NODED’ she thought ‘HARRY IS REAL! THEY ARE ALL REAL!’ she tried to look calm as she was having a firework show inside. She thought they were real when she received her Hogwarts letter but that was indirect evidence. This man in real life knowing who Harry was direct evidence! ’Or he was real” she somberly thought. ‘What if something happened to him afterwards?’

“Do you know how old he is?” Lucy asked trepidatiously. She was consciously trying to stop herself from fidgeting. 

“He is around eleven, I suppose. He has been around here shopping for Hogwarts. Can’t believe how fast time flies.” the old man replied. 

‘OH MY GOD!!! NOT ONLY HE IS REAL BUT NOTHING HAPPENED YET. So my “dream” was a vision of the future. Wait, does that make it a premonition? Should I call that instead? WHATEVER THE CASE, I CAN HELP HARRY. I CAN HELP HARRY FIGHT VOLDEMORT! I CAN LITERALLY SAVE THE LIVES OF THE TWINS AND CEDRIC AND SO MANY PEOPLE!’ Lucy was basically having an emotional stroke. She tried to calm herself down. 

“Anyways” she tried to get back to the task at hand airily. She wrote down her note, put it in the envelop and handed the envelop to the shop owner. The shop owner helped her send the letter. Lucy thanked him and left in what she hoped was a calm demeanor. 

Her letter was for Luna Lovegood and it stated:

Hi Luna. My name is Lucy. I am a year older than you and I am going to start Hogwarts this year. You don’t know me but I know you. It is a very long story. I would love to tell it to you in person. I am waiting for you at Rosa Lee Teashop. I really need your help. I hope you come and meet me as soon as possible. Preferably with your father. I think you guys might be the only ones who can help me at the moment. I will be waiting for you eagerly.

Sincerely,  
Lucy

She went to the teashop. She was still carrying around her luggage. She hid the big luggage under the table and put her coat on the chair. She ordered a black tea. Before her tea arrived, she went into the bathroom with her carry-on. Now that the de-aging process has started, she would be an eleven year old in no time. She wore a flowy dress and flip-flops, which was not very dignified but this was better than having shoes fall of her feet or having shoes crush her feet. She got back to her table to find that her tea had arrived. She started sipping her tea. It was in the teashop a little over an hour when Luna walked in with her father. She was almost back to being an eleven year old. If the owner of the teashop noticed her change, she didn’t mention it. 

She got up and waved them over. “Hello Luna. Hello Mr. Lovegood.”

 

⚡  
ᒡ◯ᵔ◯ᒢ

 

Lucy stopped breathing. Luna was exactly like she imagined her to be. Envisioned her to be? Whatever. They approached her table. Luna was giving Lucy the warmest smile she had ever seen. She knew she made the right choice to contact them first. When they were seated, she asked Luna’s father to do a silencing charm. He obliged. Now that they were closer, Lucy could see that they had a nervous energy to them, which was not characteristic at all. This made Lucy even more anxious than she previously was. Her first obstacle (get to London) was over. Her second obstacle was getting Lovegoods’ help. Third, convincing Dumbledore to let her stay at Hogwarts. And the end goal, saving the world alongside the others. She had not figured out the part between third obstacle and the end goal yet but she had time. Well, seven years to be exact. 

She took in a deep breath and said “IranawayfromhomebecausemyparentsbeatmeEventhoughweareBritishweliveinanEasternEuropeancountrythatdoesnothavechildservicesTherewasnowayIcangetawayBeforemyHogwartslettercameIwasthinkingaboutkillingmyselfButtheletterbroughtalonganotheroptionIcanjuststudyatHogwartsasanorphanandbesafeuntilIamoldenoughtotakecareofmyselfPleasedonotturnmeintotheauthoritiesbecauseIreallydon’twanttogobackthoseawfulpeopleIdidn’tknowanyoneinLondonbutIheardaboutyourfamilyYouguysareawesomeAndIwashopingthatyouguyscouldletmebeyourguestforalittlewhileandhelpmetalktoDumbledoreThat’salIaskfromyou.” 

Luna and her father was dumbfounded. Mr Lovegood cleared his throat and asked her to repeat everything at a normal speed this time. The irony of Mr Lovegood asking something to be “normal” eased Lucy’s anxiety. 

“Ok first of all if it was anyone else, I would ask you to give me the verisatium potion. But I know of enough about your family that I know you will take me at my word. If at the end of my story, you feel the need for me to take the truth potion, I will.” Lucy looked in their eyes trying to let them see her earnestness. Luna and her father seemed to be satisfied. At least for now, so Lucy started again.

“I ran away from home because my parents beat me. Even though we are British, we live in an Eastern European country that does not have child services. There was no way I can get away. Before my Hogwarts letter came, I was thinking about killing myself. But the letter brought along another option. I can just study at Hogwarts as an orphan and be safe until I am old enough to take care of myself. Please do not turn me into the authorities because I really don’t want to go back to those awful people. I didn’t know anyone in London but I heard about your family. You guys are awesome. And I was hoping that you guys could let me be your guest for a little while and help me talk to Dumbledore. That’s alI ask from you.”

Lucy found that she was honest to God crying. Well, more like bawling with snot EVERYWHERE by the end. This was the first time she ever said it out loud that her parents hurt her. It felt freeing. She realized that she was making a scene but at least she was making it silently thanks to Mr Lovegood. She felt a presence next to her. She looked up and saw that it was Luna. Next moment Luna was hugging her with all her might. Luna did not say anything but looked expectantly at her father. Mr Lovegood swallowed a couple of times and stated “Ok, you can stay with us for now. And I will contact Dumbledore on your behalf.”

Lucy nodded as she realized Luna had not let her go. 

Mr Lovegood smiled and went up to the counter to order them tea and desserts. He told the girls that they will have some tea and then leave after Lucy was feeling better.

After they arrived at Lovegood’s house, Mr Lovegood announced that Lucy was to sleep in Luna’s room. He transformed a chair into a bed. Before she knew it Lucy was asleep in her new bed and the Lovegoods had left the room. 

Lucy slept through the night. She didn’t even wake up when Luna went to sleep. Next morning, she woke to Luna bending over her. She startled. It was a strange way to wake up. Not unpleasant since Lucy felt like Luna was a dear friend. Just strange. So Lucy smiled and said “Good morning” with a yawn. 

Luna did not move back. “You know, I have never seen a child to have so many Wrackspurts hanging around them. The children’s brains do not emit enough negativity. You must be thinking too much for your age.” She waved her hand around (Lucy assumed) to disperse her Wrackspurts. With a “Here all better” Luna stepped back.

Lucy sat up. Her face was featuring a sad smile. “Luna…”

“You don’t have to tell me now. You can tell me if you ever feel ready.” said Luna nonchalantly. 

“How did you know?” Lucy asked.

“Wrackspurts love secrets.”

“Actually, I am going to tell Dumbledore whenever I get to meet him. But I want you to be the first one to know. I” Lucy took in a big breath. “I had a dream, more like a vision of the future. You were there. Your father as well. Dumbledore. Harry Potter. And loads of other people too. This dream was actually what gave me the courage to run away.” Lucy’s voice was wavering. 

“Okay.” said Luna and grabbed Lucy’s hand in order to comfort her. 

“Of course. Of course you would believe me. Of course you would not question me. You, Luna Lovegood, are an amazing person.” Lucy pulled Luna into a hug. 

“You did not hear about us. You chose us because what you saw in your dream.” Luna mumbled into Lucy’s hair. 

“Yeah.”

“Well, then. We need to get Dumbledore here asap. He is a great wizard. He will be very helpful for you.” Luna started heading for the door still holding Lucy’s hand. Lucy chuckled. Being around Luna felt amazing. It felt like how one feels drinking hot chocolate and reading in front of the fire place during a snowy night. 

Mr Lovegood was having coffee and reading the Prophet when Lucy and Luna entered the kitchen. The girls sat down for breakfast. 

“I have already sent an owl to Dumbledore asking him to come over as soon as he is able.” Mr Lovegood announced. 

“Oh, daddy! That is great news. Hopefully, he’ll be here soon.” squealed Luna. Mr Lovegood was slightly confused why his daughter was so invested in this but he did not pursue the subject. They spend the morning talking about magical things. Despite her 7-year-long “dream”, Lucy did not feel like an expert on all things magical. The point of perspective of the dream was limited. There were so many things Harry was not exposed to during his Hogwarts years. 

The fireplace flared green, as Mr Lovegood was telling the girls about the magic world in the united states. Dumbledore stepped out. “My dear Xeno. You got me all worried. What is this about a runaway eleven-year-old witch?” he said as he took in the people in the room. His eyes settled on Lucy. 

Mr Lovegood stood up and gestured toward Lucy. “Albus, meet Lucy. She contacted us yesterday. Apparently she is British but her family lives in Eastern Europe. Her parents are not capable of taking care of her but there is no child services in her country. Therefor, when she got her Hogwarts letter, she ran away. She hopes that she can live in Hogwarts until she is of age.”

The curiosity in Dumbledore’s eyes transformed into pity. He sat at the arm chair and Mr Lovegood sat back down. 

“Why wouldn’t you just ask your parents permission to go to Hogwarts? We could have come up with reasons for you to not go back if you didn’t want to.” Dumbledore asked.

“I considered it but if they declined, I would run away and they would know where to find me.” answered Lucy honestly. 

“Don’t you think they are distressed about you?”

“Perhaps. I just do not care how they feel. I don’t owe them anything. They forgo of their rights on me long time ago.” Lucy thought this was a better answer then saying ‘I do not have any more fucks to give about them’. 

Dumbledore turned to Mr Lovegood and asked for some privacy for Lucy and him. As the door clicked, Dumbledore requested Lucy to start her story from the beginning. So Lucy did. Until the cliff. 

“Why did you change your mind?” probed Dumbledore. 

“Before I get to that, I want to know what you think. What is your solution? Because I don’t want them in my life. I will not go back to them. With or without your help, I am done with that part of my life.”

Dumbledore took a moment. “Doing the right thing is not always doing the legal things. I am not so callous that I would try to reunite you with your family. But letting them suffer your loss seems to me to be unnecessary punishment. I propose that I go talk to them. Worst case, I am thinking I could erase your existence from their minds. This would make things easier for you as well since there would be no one looking for you.” Dumbledore summoned a house elf from Hogwarts and requested some tea and cakes.

He poured both himself and Lucy some tea. He offered Lucy hers and said “I needed some strong tea. Because I think there is more to your story. You speak in a confident, assured way not capable of an eleven-year-old. Please tell me the rest.”

Lucy took her tea and she grabbed a cake too. She focused on these for a few moments. Finally, she turned to Dumbledore. “I had a vision on that cliff. I know what is to come. We both know that Tom Riddle is not dead thanks to the horcruxes. I saw him come back bringing the war back with him. I won’t tell you anything. Especially because I know how you value the concept of need-to-know-basis. I couldn’t go through with my plan after I had my vision. The vision gave me the strength to endure my parents but after I received my Hogwarts letter and I realized that I did not have to endure anything. I was not just any other eleven year old anymore. I had power. And I do not mean the magic I possess.”

Dumbledore locked eyes with her. “Is that your manner of twisting my arm so that I will help you to abandon your parents?”

“If I wanted to blackmail you, I would have started with the vision. I wanted give you the choice to help me or not. It seemed that you were leaning towards helping. The thing is I actually do not need your help about my parents. I have everything under control. I personally do not care if they suffer. Hence, there is only a single obstacle left before I am officially an orphan: my last name. When you change my last name from the Hogwarts rosters, no obstacle will be left. You will do that because you know how Voldemort uses people’s families against them and you are too cautious to let my evil parents have power over a major player in this war, which you now know I am.”

“It seems like I do not have a choice in this matter anymore, though.”

“No, you do. You have the choice to work with me or against me or be neutral. If you decide to work with me, you have the choice to erase my parents’ memories of me like you previously suggested or not to do so. It will be the more humane thing to do. And that will lighten your guilt. If you decide to work not to work with me, I have the choice to work with some other people. In fact, the list of people who would want to work with me is quite impressive.”

They sat in silence and drank their tea. 

“You are worried” stated Lucy.

“You seem to have had a lot of pain in your life. You are still very young. The weight on your shoulders would be too much for anyone to handle. I am worried about it corrupting your soul.”

“First of all, thank you for pretending that you believe that I am currently good. Look professor, I know I have given you no reason to trust me. I know you don’t trust easy. I am sure in the future you will design little tests for me to reassure yourself that I am working for the good side.” Lucy took a sip of her tea. Dumbledore had the faintest shadow of a smile in his face. 

Lucy continued. “I don’t know how to explain who or what I am anymore. I used to be a good little kid. I used to share my toys, never laugh at people who fell, always tried to be a good daughter. Then I had the vision. This vision was of many years and I felt every single second of it. I feel much older than eleven now. Furthermore, I feel connected to people in my vision. Those people are my heart. They are my light. The darkness of my life disappeared because of them. I will never betray them. I love them and I will protect them until the day I die. Because if I am alive, it is only because of them.”

“Well, then…” Dumbledore stood up. “I will see you at Hogwarts. Have any preferences for you last name?”

Lucy got up too. ‘Dumbledore is really as cryptic and quirky as he was in my dream.’ she thought. “Don’t really have a preference. It should be something generic and boring. Do you need the address of my parents?”

“I do need their address. I’ll come up with an appropriate last name for you. If you change your mind and decide on a specific last name, let me know before the sorting ceremony.”

“Sure thing.” Lucy stepped closer. “And professor, you did good in the future. Your sister will be proud of you.”

If Dumbledore was taken back, he did not show with. With a final goodbye and a green flare, he was gone. 

Lucy found the Lovegoods in the kitchen. They were preparing lunch. Lucy was feeling nauseous. ‘It must be the cakes’ she thought ‘They were too sweet.’ Then she scoffed to herself ‘As if there is such a thing as too sweet.’ 

Luna brought Lucy back down to earth. “How did it go?” in the melodic way that lifted up people’s spirits even if they do not wanted to be lifted. 

Lucy gave a sad smile. “I think he is going to meet my parents before he makes up his mind about me. He will probably get in touch soon. Would you guys mind if I was your guest for a little while longer?”

“Of course, dear.” Mr Lovegood responded without missing a beat. 

“Thanks. I am too full from the cakes Professor offered me. I think I’m going to skip lunch and take a nap instead.”

As Lucy got out of the kitchen, she missed the worried look on the Lovegood’s faces. But she knew they were worried. ‘Sleep is a sign of depression. They probably think I am depressed. Wait, maybe I am depressed. No… I think I’m just really tired. Been a long summer. Long life, really. And now I am burdening the Lovegoods with my troubles. Such a good person, such a good friend I am.’ She got in her bed and pulled the blanket over her head. ‘If I hide from my problems, they can’t find me.’ she resolutely told herself and proceeded to sing every single song she could think of. By the time Luna came in to check on her, she had already cycled through the songs she knew multiple times. 

She did not hear Luna come in so she was a bit startled when she heard Luna’s “Hey.” Lucy ducked her head out and muttered a “Hello”.

“Are you ok?” Luna asked.

Lucy decided to dive right in. “How can I be this proud and this ashamed of myself at the same time?”

“Want to talk about it?” Luna was trying to not push Lucy but she was starting to get really curious. This was big, she could tell. 

“Is there a way we can talk where no one can hear us?”

Luna held out her hand. When Lucy grabbed it, Luna pulled her out of the bed and out of the room. “Daddy, I am gonna show some of the cool things in your study to Lucy. We’ll come down dinnertime.” As she closed her the door, she explained “This room has silencing charms since secrecy and privacy can be crucial in news reporting.”

Lucy sat on the floor by the window, which was an action even Luna thought was weird seeing that there were plenty of seats in the room. Luna sat next to her. 

“Luna… Ugh, I don’t even know where to begin. I want to start from the beginning. You see I was hiking up a cliff several weeks ago and that’s where this story actually starts. But we don’t have time for that now. How about we come back here after your dad goes to sleep tonight and I will tell you the whole story then?”

“Sure. We’ll grab snacks too. And some hot chocolate.” 

“Sounds great.” Luna started to tear up. “Agh, fuck it. Here is the gist of my dream: Voldemort is coming back. There is going to be a second war with many battles. Don’t worry the good side will win and he will be dead for good this time. But the think is Luna, there is going to be so much death, so much pain. The world is going to be an ugly place. This war is going to be played mostly by children. Children our age!!! They will be stuck between a rock and a hard place. So many children will suffer. And there is all the prejudice and animosity that will corrupt everything good in this world.”

Luna’s face transformed into an emotion Lucy had not seen on her before. ‘Maybe just laying it on her was not such a great idea. She is only ten… She is not the courageous teen yet.’ Lucy chastised herself. 

Luna threw herself at Lucy and hugged her tightly. “You poor thing. You carry so much responsibility! You shouldn’t have to. Why on earth would you feel ashamed of yourself? The fact that you are still functioning makes me very proud of you.”

Lucy grabbed Luna’s shoulders and pushed her off her and kept holding her at arms length. “Because I basically threatened Dumbledore to let me be an orphan. I didn’t come out and said it but I suggested that I might go look for help somewhere else if he didn’t help me. I let him think this ‘somewhere else’ might even be a person on the evil side of the war.”

“Why did you do that?”

“Because it would be silly to think any adult would willy nilly let an eleven-year-old child emancipate themselves from their parents. Because I did not actually want to give him the choice to help me. Because I didn’t want to suffer under my parents for the next seven years even though my dream has given me the power to endure it. I just don’t want to. I should not have to. Most importantly, I have a lot of things I need to accomplish in this war. I respect and appreciate what Dumbledore has done but I don’t condone everything he has done. Hindsight truly is twenty-twenty. I think I can make so many changes that are for the better. And I need him to let me. I can’t fight him constantly. He needs to be a little bit afraid of me.”

“Wonderful. You had great reasons to do what you did. You should not feel ashamed. You should only feel proud. I only feel proud of you.”

“I feel proud of you. You are taking this much better than I could have hoped for.” Lucy squeezed Luna’s shoulder. 

“Well, the good side will win. So that’s great. All the suffering along the way is bad. But you seem determined to not let the suffering happen. You came to me, you are telling me of all people about your dream because you think I would help you. Which of course, I will. It is stressful and no doubt it will be hard. However, wrackspurts are easy to get rid when you can see them. There is no point sitting around worrying about the existence of wrackspurts. You just need to live your life and shoo them away when you see them.”

“You seem very confident in my wrackspurts shooing abilities.” Lucy pointed out.

“I am confident in wrackspurts shooing abilities of us. You ran away from home, which was on the other side of Europe. You got in touch with a family who were willing to help you. You twisted one of the most powerful wizard’s arm to help you. I believe in you. I think you are capable of great things. Look at what you accomplished so far. I also believe in me. And you chose me so you must believe in me too. That’s another reason I believe in me. I believe in me because I believe in you. We will not let the world fall into darkness.” Luna got up. “Right now, we will eat.”

Lucy got up as well. She dried her eyes and followed Luna into the kitchen.

Mr Lovegood was pleased that Lucy was in a much better mood. It especially made him feel happy because it was Luna that helped Lucy be in a better mood. Thinking those two girls were going to be good friends eased his worries about Luna a little bit. 

Lucy was, indeed, in a better mood. However, if you asked her, she could not tell you what she ate or what she talked about. Her focus was on that night. She looked forward to sharing her dream, which she hoped would lighted her load, but she was slightly worried about living through it again. ‘So much suffering! Calm down, calm down. It is theoretical suffering that will not even become reality. Hopefully.’ she kept telling herself. They all went to sleep early that night. The girls did because Luna declared that Lucy had a long day and Mr Lovegood did because he was going to have an important floo call about a piece he was writing. After the girls were satisfied that Mr Lovegood was asleep, they grabbed snacks and hot chocolate from the kitchen and got comfortable in the study. 

Without any preamble Lucy began. “As I previously mentioned this story starts with a hike towards a cliff. I was a regular almost-eleven-year-old who had no more will to live. I had decided that dying would be less painful than keep living with my parents. I wanted to die flying so I went to find this cliff. I stood by the edge and…”

“No” Luna gasped. 

“And I had ‘my dream’. It started in a muggle house in London that was adamant about being normal. An eleven year old boy lived in the cupboard under the stairs there. He was not loved or liked. His so-called-family treated him badly. I kind of saw myself in him, you see. This boy was named Harry Potter.”

“THE Harry Potter. Alone and abused?” Luna was not crying per say. But tears kept running down her cheeks. She probably was not even aware of them. 

“Yes. The dream continues from his perspective. This was little before his first year at Hogwarts and the dream ended right after the battle Voldemort was defeated in Harry’s seventh year. This is the life my poor little Harry leads with his courageous friends, which includes you by the way.” And so Lucy began telling Luna the tale of Harry Potter, the boy who lived twice. She told Luna about Ron, Hermione and troll their first year as well as the philosophers stone. Ginny’s possession the second year. About Dobby. About Sirius in Harry’s third year. The Triwizard Tournament in the forth year and Cedric. “Cedric’s death broke my heart into million pieces. He is a wonderful boy. I would like to save him if at all possible.” she noted. She continued to tell Luna about the sixth year and Umbridge, whom she nicknamed “the evil scum of earth who physically hurts students”. She told Luna about Draco Malfoy. “It is not as easy to like Draco as it is Cedric, I will admit that. But he is not an evil person. It is so much easier to stand against one’s evil parents if they have also been evil to you. It is not so easy if they have been good to you. In any case, he is your cousin and I would like to save him as well.” She argued in vain since Luna was never not going to save a person, especially a child. Lucy finished off her dream with the seventh year with the final battle. How proud she was for actions, Luna has not done yet, was clear as day. “I could not take it anymore. So many people I have cared for for many years were dead. I pulled myself out of the dream when the survivors were taking the death toll.”

Luna was not capable of coherent speech. “Wow.”

They sat in silence and ate a lot of chocolate for a while. When Luna finally stopped crying, Lucy started to speak again. “I would like to prevent every single death I have seen happen. I realize there are some I have not seen happen so those would be tougher but we can still think about ways around those as well.”

“Sounds like a lovely idea.”

“I am worried about changing the end of the war. I would be so much more reckless if the good side lost in my dream. As is, I am afraid of changing so much that I cause the good side the war.”

“You know what I was thinking of? Where are you during your dream? You must still be a witch. You would still get an invitation for Hogwarts since you are British.”

“What are you trying to say?” Lucy was perplexed.

“I think that in your dream world you never saw the dream. So…” Luna was staring at her hands. “So you must have gone through with it. Your dream is how the world would turn out if you were dead.”

Lucy stared at Luna. She had not considered this. 

“That means something.” Luna argued finally looking up. 

Lucy shot Luna a skeptical look.

“It does. It means that some forces, maybe the universe, maybe a goddess, wanted you to do something about this war. They could have showed this dream to anyone but they chose you. For example, they could have showed it to Dumbledore. He could certainly bring down the death toll while still winning the war. But they chose you.”

“Who in their right minds would choose an eleven year old girl across the continent with no adults in her life to help her?”

Luna thought about it as she poured them more hot chocolate. “I think it’s because you care more than just the death toll or the war. You want to heal the world. You don’t want to use bunch of kids as soldier in a war previous generations started. How did you put it? ‘The world is going to be an ugly place because the prejudice and animosity will corrupt everything good in this world.’ You already have plans to heal the world, don’t you? Besides your plans about the death toll?”

“I do, actually.” Lucy blushed. “I want to bring people together. I want people to put aside their differences.” 

“And you are going to accomplish this how?” Luna egged Lucy on.

“I have several ideas. One, I want the wizarding world to know more about the muggle world. The inventions muggles come up with are amazing and more magical people should know about them. I was thinking the least I could do is to implement little muggle things into Hogwarts. I want to do something bigger to reach out to more people but I haven’t figured that part out yet. Plus, I want there to be less significance on the Hogwarts Houses. I am going to ask Dumbledore permission to form clubs so that students in different houses would interact more. I am also going to ask for more parties so that all students can mingle. I am even planning on eventually getting rid of sitting separately at meal times.”

“See! Hogwarts have been around forever and no one thought of making such changes. Not even after the first war! You are meant to change the world for the better. The world needs you.” Luna stated adamantly. 

“And you. You realize I can’t do this alone, right?” Lucy gave Luna her best version of puppy dog eyes. 

Luna gave her her a big smile. “It just occurred to me that how easy it would be to reach the wizarding world masses, if we had connections at a media outlet.”

“Oh Luna, I love where this is going!” 

“What if there was a weekly column in the Quibbler on muggle inventions?”

“Yes! Yes! So much yes! In fact, there could be two! Why don’t you start one too? That way there could be an adult’s perception and a child’s perception!”

“Oh, I couldn’t. Could I? I am not even a writer.”

“You are right. You need help. You guys should get in touch with the Weasleys. I am sure Ginny would love to help you.”

Luna chuckled. “I see what you are doing Miss Lucy.”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“You are worried about Ginny being left alone at home with all her brothers away in school or away at work. And you are worried about the fact that I didn’t have many friends in the early years of Hogwarts.”

“Oh, I did not mean for you to notice that part about my story. You know that your lack of friends in the early years have nothing to do with you. You are just too awesome for the rest of the kids. They needed to grow up a bit to catch up to your awesomeness levels.” Lucy assured Luna. 

“I am not worried about it. I already have a friend this time around. But yes, I think it is an exquisite idea to get in touch with Ginny for both our sakes. Especially because I already know that I am going to miss you a lot.”

“Great!! Especially because I am going to miss you too and I would feel much better knowing you are not lonely.”

“You just proved my previous point again about why they chose you. You think about these things. That’s why they chose you.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Lucy rolled her eyes. 

“A squib should write the adult version. A squib would know what wizarding world would think about the invention and would know what it feels like to use the invention in daily life.”

“AND it would be a step taken against discrimination! You, Luna Lovegood, are a genius.”

“It comes naturally.” said Luna effervescently. 

Lucy chuckled. “I think your dad, you and I should spent a couple of days in the muggle London. We could think of ideas for the column. I think movie theaters, fairs, cars and arcade games should definitely me on the list of stuff to cover.”

“No idea what those are but it sounds fun.”

“Oh, they are!” Lucy asserted. “Do you think we should call it a night? It is nearly morning…”

“Yes. I think that’s a good idea. We can continue our plans tomorrow night. We should have a code name for all this.” Luna said. 

“I would love that! Something that does not tell away the content of what we are doing so that we can operate in peace.” 

“Operate. Our operation to save the world…” Luna thought out loud.

“Operation STW by Luna and Lucy? Or we can have a name too like Team LuLu?” Lucy suggested. 

“Operation LuLu? I like that: LuLu.” Luna smiled. 

“I am so excited about these that you have no idea. Ok, we are calling all this saving the world stuff Operation LuLu. Also, our friendship has the codename: Team LuLu. When we have to meet privately, we can say ‘Team LuLu, Assemble!’.” Knowing that Luna would not get the reference, Lucy added “It’s a play on a quote from a muggle comic book.”

“Sounds perfect.” The girls cleaned up the study and went to bed as the sun started rising slowly. 

⚡  
ᒡ◯ᵔ◯ᒢ

Luna was feeling groggy when she woke up. While trying to leave the room, she tripped over her own feet and fell with a loud bang. Lucy immediately sat up yelling “I’m up” even though her eyes were still closed. She opened her eyes slowly. Realizing what happened, she started to laugh. Luna joined her. They went directly into the kitchen since they were starving. They found Mr Lovegood having tea there. Emperor the Penguin was nibbling on something next to him. “I was starting to worry” he said eying the girls. 

“Sorry, dad. We stayed up too late talking last night. Lucy just has so many things to catch upon. It is her muggle upbringing. She is sad that she grew up oblivious of wonderful aspects of magic.” provided Luna. 

“Especially the magical creatures!” piped up Lucy as she pet Emperor. “They are just so… Magical!!” She felt guilty (at least a bit weird) about being able lie so easily. ‘Get used to it Lucy, you are going to lie A LOT in the next seven years.’ she thought. 

“That’s ok girls. But do not turn this into a habit. School is starting soon.” Mr Lovegood chided them gently. “That reminds me. Albus sent me an owl. He reassured me that everything will be taken care of for Lucy after she starts Hogwarts. He has dealt with your parents, Lucy. You are forever free of them. He said that he has gotten rid of all evidence suggesting you are not an orphan and has created false evidence suggesting that you are one. He asked me to never utter a word about your origins. And I won’t, for you. He also asked me whether I thought it was best for you to stay here or arrive at Hogwarts early. I wanted ask you before I responded to him. Would you like to stay with us until Hogwarts starts?” 

Lucy blurted “Yes!”.

Mr Lovegood smiled. “Well girls… That’s settled. The day is not over yet. What would you guys say to going to a magical zoo so that Lucy can see all those magical creatures herself?” Mr Lovegood asked with a smug smirk. If he was being honest, he had always been worried that Luna did not connect with other children as naturally as one might expect. Her friendship with Lucy was warming his heart. 

Lucy had the one of the best days of her life that day. She had friends. She was safe. She had a purpose. AND SHE WAS HAVING FUN. Being allowed to have fun was a luxury she never had before. The zoo was amazing beyond her imagination. She squealed multiple times at such a high frequency that it was almost out of the human hearing range. 

After they came back, Mr Lovegood informed the girls that he had an errand to run the next day for the piece he was working on so they would have to stay home alone. This allowed girls to postpone the talk they needed to have about the details of Operation LuLu in order to get some proper sleep. Lucy sighed as she got into bed. She had the best sleep of her life that night. 

Next morning, they woke before Mr Lovegood did. That was not very surprising because neither of them could wait for all the planning they were going to do. Saving the world was exciting business. 

When Mr Lovegood entered the kitchen, the girls were discussing the magical animals they saw the previous day since Operation LuLu was not to be spoken about unless under privacy charms. 

“Good morning girls!” He kissed Luna’s head. “I need to have a quick breakfast if I don’t want to be late.” He grabbed a croissant after he poured himself some coffee that Luna prepared for him.

He told the girls about the new piece he was working on while eating his breakfast. He was calling it “The tale of the irresistible acromantula”. It was about a woman and her multiple husbands who disappeared. It turned out that this woman married men for their money and then made it look like they disappeared but actually held them captive.

“Such a morose story.” remarked Luna. 

“It is. But it is also captivating. I am going to interview not only her today but also few of the husbands as well.” boasted Mr Lovegood proudly. “Anyway, are you girls sure that you’ll be alright just the two of you?”

“Yes, daddy.” Luna responded in fake exasperation as she was clearing away the table. 

“Okay, okay. Take care of each other. If anything goes wrong, you know who to call.” He said as he patted Luna on the head. 

Lucy gave Emperor the job to warn them when Mr Lovegood came back and they immediately went to the study to work on Operation LuLu. 

“I have certain objectives. Let me know what you think of them. One, Harry will never be hurt unnecessarily. Ever. This includes people dying around him that can be avoided like Cedric. This includes the other students’ sometimes hurtful attitudes towards him. And it definitely includes ‘the evil scum of earth who physically hurts students’. He will write “I must not tell lies” on his hand over my dead body.”

“Fair enough. Would you like to elaborate on what Harry means to you before you go on with your objectives?” Luna encouraged Lucy. 

“Sure. He is like my family. Almost like a son or a brother. He makes me feel less alone. Frankly, I am not sure the dream would affect me this much if it was about anyone but Harry. I feel responsible for him. He was also given the short end of the stick. He doesn’t actually have that many people in his corner. He has friends. He has comrades. But he doesn’t really have any family other than the Weasleys and Hermione. And that might sound like a lot but those people also have their own families. At the end of the day, Harry spent his summers with this abusive relatives. I just want to make his life better. Mostly because I think I can. Did you know that we were born on the same day? I kind of feel like I was born to look after him. Is that weird? Does that make sense?”

“It genuinely does. You were abused as a kid. You saw him being abused and you want to protect him. Not that hard to understand. Next objective?” 

“The death toll. To keep it non-existent? I refuse to let anyone die at the final battle. I actually might have an idea about that. But I also want to prevent the other deaths. Cedric, Sirius and Dumbledore being the most important three. I think we can get away with keeping Cedric alive. Sirius and Dumbledore are much trickier. Their deaths are important for the advancement of the war in the right way. That just means that we have to be more creative about keeping them alive.”

“What’s your idea about the final battle?”

“First of all, I want to keep the older students at Hogwarts. I am thinking after the Triwizard Tournament, I am going to ask Dumbledore to create Post-Hogwarts program. There can be advanced studies in various areas for which the students can get certificates for. The official reason could be that in a world where Voldemort exists these students could use extra knowledge. Plus, they could provide extra protection for Hogwarts. I want them to stay because that means more people on the good side at the final battle. AND this would gives us the excuse to hide certain people at Hogwarts. Like Mr Ollivander. Second of all, I want to create a new spells club. As early as possible. This club could start off small. They can come up with fun little spells. Then, they can move on to creating muggle inspired spells, which will come in handy for my next objective. Most importantly, I want them to create a spell for the final battle. This spell should affect everyone with a Dark Mark. Something like ‘expelliarmus’ for everyone with a Dark Mark.”

“Oh, that’s clever!” Luna beamed proudly. 

“My next objective is about prejudice and discrimination. I want the wizarding world to get to know the amazing sides of the muggle world. The Quibbler Column was a great idea! I also think we could possibly do movie nights every week at Hogwarts. Starting clubs and sitting together during meals for eliminating house discrimination. I have also noticed that in my dream world Harry was mostly surrounded by straight white people. I don’t like that. I want more diversity. I actually think Harry might be bisexual. Nothing in my dream explicitly stated that but I feel like he noticed and talked about other males’ physical characteristics way too much. He might not be. I just need him to know that it is okay either way. He did not really have anyone in his life to assure him of that.”

“You really do think of him as a son or a little brother, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I do. I watched him grow up firsthand. I can’t help it. Anyways, forth objective is keeping the children of Death Eaters away from danger.”

“Another objective Dumbledore haven’t and will not think of.” Luna pointed out.

“It’s because he is not as intrusive as I am. I literally give zero fucks about anything but to keep children safe. Well, that and save the world.”

Luna chuckled. “And you also have plan for that yet? Also, when did you come up with all these plans?”

“Yes. And mostly ideas took root before my letter came in. I was obsessively thinking about my dream. About things I would have done different. Things I wished people had done differently. I did not really fault anyone though. I had the advantage of hindsight.”

“You plan is…” Luna trailed off expectantly.

“I am going to fix Draco and Harry’s relationship. Hence, make Draco lean more towards the good side. And when the time comes, with his help I am going to initiate the ‘Lost Generation’. Like the ‘Lost Boys’ form Peter Pan but not sexist.”

“Oh, I love that story. But I am not sure I understand what you mean.”

“Yeah, it’s a really cute and fun story. The Lost Generation is going be consist of children of Death Eaters and they will renounce their families and become orphans like me. I am hoping that Dumbledore will provide support by letting them stay at Hogwarts and stuff. This will serve three purposes. One, the kids will be safe and out of the clutches of Voldemort. Two, lessen the number of Hogwarts students who turn into Death Eaters. Three, encourage their parents to leave Voldemort’s side.”

“Maybe we can start a campaign in the Quibbler to financially support the Lost Generation?”

“That would be awesome!” Lucy beamed. 

“How are you going to fix Draco and Harry’s relationship?”

“I was thinking that I would take over their interaction on the train to Hogwarts. I want them to know more about each other before they make quick judgements. I want Draco to know more about the abuse Harry faced growing up. I want Harry to know about how Draco’s parents can make decisions for him that are not in his best interest.”

“What kind of decisions?” Luna asked. 

“Like keeping him away from you, his awesome cousin.”

Luna blushed. “If Draco doesn’t get the order to kill Dumbledore, do you think that means, Dumbledore will be safe?”

“I think Voldemort will probably give the job to Snape.”

As the girls discussing whether Snape would be required to help Death Eaters in Hogwarts (Probably yes) and whether they should help him by mentioning the vanishing cabinet as an option (yes because it would be the easiest entrance to Hogwarts to get rid of since tearing the protective charms might have lasting effects), Emperor the Penguin patted on the door to let them know of Mr Lovegood’s arrival. 

The girls quickly tidied up the room and went downstairs to greet Mr Lovegood. They made small talk as they headed towards the kitchen. 

During dinner, Mr. Lovegood told the girls more about the piece he was working on. “Apparently, she kept her husbands captive in her necklace. When activated, the gem on the necklace would pull a person in it. Although, I couldn’t find out what happens once a person gets sucked into the gem. The husbands told me that they had no memories between being pulled into the gem and being rescued by the aurors. They did seem to age while in the gem. No one knows if they were conscious during their time in the gem but subsequently forgot it after they got out or if they were not conscious during their imprisonment.”

Luna started coughing. 

Lucy patted her back. “You, okay?”

“Yes, I just got distracted for a second because I thought of something.”

“Ok?” Lucy said but did not push further. They could assemble Team LuLu after Mr Lovegood went to sleep. 

“Anyway, let’s talk about less morose things. Lucy, when should we get your school supplies?”

“Actually, I have been meaning to mention that. But…”

“Don’t worry about the costs. Consider them as a new school year gifts.”

“No, that is not it. I appreciate your offer but I can actually afford them myself. That’s what I was dreading to mention.”

“What’s wrong?” Luna intervened. 

“It’s just that you guys won’t think very highly of me afterwards. But I am resolutely not ashamed of what I have done and… Ugh! Just wait a second. I’ll be right back.”

Lucy quickly went to Luna’s room and came back with the jewelry she took from her parents’ safe. 

“I took reparations.” Lucy stated. She put a ring on the table.

“This was for the time my mother beat me with a ruler, which was metal on one side and wood on the other.”

A pair of diamond earrings. “This was for when my mother pulled my hair and bit me.”

Another ring. “When my dad grabbed my arm so hard while yelling at me that the bruise did not go away for over a week.”

A bracelet. “For breaking my bedroom door nine times. I would run away and hide in my room, you see. They would break the door on order to come in and catch me.”

Another bracelet. “This one for that one time I ran out of the house barefoot in order to get away from my father. I was too scared to stop for a second to grab my shoes. I hid in a neighbor’s garden over five hours that day.”

A necklace. “This one is for the time my mother decided that I was schizophrenic and tried to convince me that I was hearing the devil. It was not even that I was seeing any magical creatures or speaking parceltongue. She just randomly decided one day just because. She told me that she figured why I was such a problem child. It was apparently because I was schizophrenic.”

“The way I see it is that they owe me more. So much more. For every time they hit me. For every time they threw things at me. For every time they insulted me. Parents should not be doing any of these. You guys need not worry for them. They have a lot more jewelry and money in general. I just wanted to take something to help me get started in my new life.” 

She looked up to them for the first time since she started talking about the jewelry. “Will you help me sell these? I can buy my school supplies with these.”

Luna hugged her. Mr Lovegood cleared his throat and said “Yes, of course.”

That night, the girls snuck into the study after Mr Lovegood went to sleep. 

“You have so many ideas about how to heal the world. How are we going to heal you?” Luna asked worriedly. 

“I don’t know. Maybe I cannot be healed. Maybe healing the world will also heal me. Although…” Lucy trailed off. 

“Although what?” Luna insisted.

“Although I am a bit worried about my attempts at healing the world having the opposite effect. What if it breaks me more?”

“What do you mean?” Luna looked confused. 

“I am constantly going to lie to people. I am going to be surrounded by the people I love the most in the whole world and they won’t even know me. I am going to look into people’s eyes. People whom I have watched die. Young people who died because they were too pure for this world.” Lucy said in a deflated voice. 

“Yes, you are lying to people. But it is for their own good. At the end of the day, those lies won’t matter but how you improved their lives will. Those people will love you back. Just give them a little bit of time to get to know you. And the people that died in your dream, won’t die this time. We won’t let it. So all you should feel when you look into their eyes is pride for not letting them die.”

“Thanks, Luna. Moving on… What made you choke during dinner?” Lucy changed the subject not so subtly. 

“I was thinking what if we used this necklace to trap Sirius and Dumbledore? We could arrange it so that everyone else think they are dead and then we can bring them back after Voldemort is defeated.”

“This way, the war progresses as it should but we don’t actually lose them. This is wow. Terrific idea!”

Luna smiled proudly. 

“We make a great team. This is all coming together nicely.” Lucy said excitedly. 

 

⚡  
ᒡ◯ᵔ◯ᒢ

 

It only took one Mr Lovegood, one disguise charm, six pieces of jewelry and forty-five minutes. Lucy did not expect to feel this relieved while counting the money but there it was. Mr Lovegood offered to take Lucy to Diagon Alley but she wanted to wait until the last possible day so she asked if they could do something more fun instead. They spent the rest of the day enjoying muggle London. 

After Mr Lovegood went to bed, the girls snuck into the study as it was almost a tradition now. 

“Why didn’t you want to go shopping at Diagon Alley today?” Luna asked right away. 

“I am worried about buying things that are meant for other students. So I was thinking we could spend as many days possible in muggle London before we go to Diagon Alley to shop.”

“You worries are valid but you should keep in mind that you are meant to be here. You are meant to go to Hogwarts and you are meant to do the shopping required for Hogwarts. Also, I was thinking that I might let you and daddy go alone to Diagon Alley.”

“Wait, why?”

“I was thinking about using that day to go through daddy’s notes on the acromantula’s necklace.”

“Good thinking! Okay, what was on the agenda for tonight.”

“We wanted to talk about the events that needed to happen almost exactly like they did in your dream.”

“Right. So the incident with the trolls…”

⚡  
ᒡ◯ᵔ◯ᒢ

Lucy and the Lovegoods spent the next few weeks hanging out in the muggle London. After the fun they had there, it was not hard to convince Mr Lovegood to say ‘yes’ to the two weekly muggle world columns in the Quibbler. Team LuLu decided that the Diagon Alley shopping should take place on the last Thursday of August. That was if anything went wrong, they had Friday and Saturday to fix it before Lucy left for Hogwarts on Sunday.

Lucy woke up first on that Thursday. She was so excited that night that she barely slept. Today, she felt like the eleven year old she was meant to be. She kneeled by Luna’s bed and gently woke her. 

“Good morning, sleepy head! So I asked Emperor to keep an eye on you today. Don’t get into too much trouble while we are gone.” whispered Lucy.

“Sure thing.” Luna croaked. 

Lucy got up. “Meet you in the kitchen, then? I am starving!” she sing sang as she skipped towards the door.

After the breakfast, Lucy and Mr Lovegood flooed to Diagon Alley. 

First thing Lucy wanted to get was her wand, which was fine with Mr Lovegood. He was enjoying the carefree happiness oozing from Lucy. Her breath hitched when she saw the gold letters that read “Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC” over the door of a narrow shabby shop. The tinkling bell sounded exactly same as it did in her vision. She grinned when Mr Lovegood sat in the same spindly chair Hagrid must have sat only a couple weeks ago. Mr Lovegood did not jump like Hagrid when Mr Ollivander appeared out of no where with a soft “Good morning”. 

“Hello.” said Lucy echoing Harry. 

Mr Ollivander acknowledged Mr Lovegood’s presence with a nod, looked curiously towards Lucy and addressed Mr Lovegood “Mr Lovegood, I did not realize you daughter was old enough to get her first wand.”

“Oh no, this is not Luna. Lucy here is a family friend. She is a year older than Luna and starting Hogwarts this year.”

Mr Ollivander seemed to have many questions, none of which Lucy wanted to answer. 

In order to distract him, Lucy spoke first. “I would really appreciate if I did not get a wand with a core of dragon heartstring. I would rather have a vegetarian wand.”

“Well, Lucy…” Ollivander paused to give either Lucy or Mr Lovegood a chance to provide him with Lucy’s last name. Neither rose to the bait so he continued. “it is the wand that chooses the wizard not the other way round. And I have absolutely no say in the matter.”

Lucy tried to look putout. “Oh… I see.” She shook herself visibly and held out her right arm. “I am sure non-vegetarian wands would not want me anyways. Here, this will be my wand arm.” She found that talking was the best way to prevent people from asking unwanted questions. 

Mr Ollivander could not decide whether he was amused or annoyed by this eleven year-old-girl. He started doing the measurements. “Do you know which other two ingredients I use as cores of wands?” he asked her. 

“Of course!” Lucy piped. “Dragon hair and phoenix tail feathers. I hope mine will be the dragon hair. But I am fine with either.”

“Oh, really?” Mr Ollivander snickered at Lucy’s presumptuous behavior. “Is there a reason for this preference?”

“Yes.” Lucy bit her lip. “They are loyal and righteous, which are most admirable qualities.”

“Indeed, they are great qualities to have in a wand” Mr Ollivander agreed. 

“No, I meant in general. A person would be lucky to have such honorable qualities.” Lucy amended.

Mr Ollivander hummed with a smirk. Amused he decided. 

Mr Ollivander had Lucy try many wands. None of them was the one, though. 

“Sorry, for being a tricky customer.” Lucy mumbled. 

Mr Ollivander eyed her. “Not to worry, we’ll find the match here somewhere.” he said trying to sound encouraging. “Well, I have some ideas what might work for you. Every wand you try narrows down the options.”

“Oh, would you please let me in on your process? Like what have you learnt so far?” Lucy tried to give him her best puppy look. Talking about wands to keep him distracted was working. He had not asked any unwanted questions yet. 

“Well, you were right. You will definitely have a vegetarian wand. In fact, it will have a core of unicorn hair.”

Lucy squealed “Yes!” and did a little dance. 

“I think best wood for you is a type of pine. It is an unusual combination with the unicorn hair…” Mr Ollivander drawled. He seemed to be got lost in his thoughts for a while. When he came to, turned towards Lucy and looked into her eyes. “Tell me, Lucy, what are you thinking about right now?”

Lucy closed her eyes. She hoped it looked like she was trying concentrate or something. “I am a little bit worried about finding my true wand. I am thinking about buying the rest of the stuff on my list. I am wondering what Luna and my owl are doing. I am thinking about some other children who will start Hogwarts with us. I am a little intimidated about meeting Professor Dumbledore. I can’t wait to play Quidditch. I think about all the adventures I’ll have at Hogwarts. All the friends I will make. I am anxious about the fact that I am growing up. And the bullies! Every school has bullies. I have heard about this particular boy who is very mean. I might be agonizing over facing him. Because I know either he will pick on me or I will try to intervene while he is picking on someone else. On another note, I cannot wait to see a dragon. I hope I get a chance. I also cannot make up my mind about chocolate frogs. I mean they are vegetarian but they act like frogs. I just can’t get used to the idea of eating one.” Lucy did not appear to slowing down at all. 

“Okay, okay child. I get the picture.” Mr Ollivander interrupted. 

Lucy gave him a sheepish smile. While not everything she said was true, she did have a lot in her mind. The one about the chocolate frogs was true, if you were wondering. 

Mr Lovegood gave Lucy a worried look. He really felt for her. 

“Was that helpful?” Lucy asked. 

“Very much so.” Mr Ollivander looked thoughtful. 

“What is it?” Lucy prodded. 

“You seem to have a lot in your mind. They all sound a bit scattered. I believe a wand with resin at the end might help you concentrate you magic.” Mr Ollivander provided. 

“What’s resin?” Lucy asked. 

“It is the hardened sap that trees make. Pines are especially good at producing resin. They use it to protect the wounds on the tree. The problem is I don’t currently have a wand to your specifications.”

“Oh.” Lucy sounded discouraged. 

“But the funny thing is I recently started making a wand. The wood is Jack Pine. The tree has a clear resin protecting its wound. I had not decide what kind of core I was going to use yet. Unicorn hair was definitely not where I was leaning towards. Any case, maybe it was meant for you. If I hurry a bit, I think I can finish it before first of September.”

Lucy couldn’t help but hug Mr Ollivander. “Thank you, Mr Ollivander.” 

Mr Lovegood got up to shake Mr Ollivander’s hand. “We appreciate all you efforts. How about we come back on Saturday?”

“Yes, yes. I think it should be done by then. I’ll see you on Saturday, then.” Mr Ollivander affirmed. 

As Lucy was leaving the shop, she tried to focus on positive thoughts like how talented Mr Ollivander was instead of negative ones like what if this new wand did not choose her. When they were out, Mr Lovegood turned to her and asked her what she wanted to get next.

Their day of shopping took a lot longer than it should have because Lucy wanted buy everything else used. Mr Lovegood was a good sport about it. In fact, he appreciated that Lucy was trying to spend as little money as possible. It gave him hope about her future. She might not have parents to look after her but at least she was bright enough to made sound financial decisions. 

That night Mr Lovegood listened as Lucy told Luna every single detail about their shopping trip. He could tell she was most excited about her wand. Lucy told them about being afraid that the new wand not wanting her. 

“What’s the worst is that I really really want that wand.” declared Lucy.

“Why is that?” asked Luna.

“Because it has war wounds. It was broken. Its life was not easy if not downright cruel. But it healed itself. It gives me hope that not all things broken have to stay broken. That one can get better and move on.” Lucy’s voice was quieter than it had been all night. 

Luna squeezed her hand. “I think the resilience of this wand is exemplary whether it chooses you or not. Don’t you agree?”

Lucy gave a little smile. “You are right. It would be impractical to only drive inspiration from things close to you. One should be open to inspiration no matter where it is coming from.”

“Exactly!” exclaimed Luna. 

Later that night in Mr Lovegood’s study, Luna commented “When you were telling me about Mr Ollivander’s shop, I got the impression that you wanted to be Hufflepuff.”

“The comment about being loyal and righteous?”

Luna nodded. 

“I think in a normal world, I would be sorted into Hufflepuff. But in our world, I want to be sorted into Slytherin.” Lucy explained. 

“Being a Slytherin would give you an upper hand in uniting the houses.” Luna saw where Lucy was going with this.

“Exactly. And it would give me the opportunity to be close to most of the Death Eaters’ children.”

“It’s sweet how much you care for them.” 

“Someone has to.” Lucy stated as-a-matter-of-factly.

“Well, they are lucky to have you.”

“Have us.” Lucy corrected Luna with a smile. 

“I was surprised when you told me that I was going to be sorted into Ravenclaw. I always thought I would be a Hufflepuff.”

“It’s because you are so brilliant” Lucy patted Luna’s back. 

“I’m a Ravenclaw. Hopefully, you’ll be a Slytherin. Harry is Gryffindor and Cedric is a Hufflepuff…” Luna mused. 

“Yeah? What are you thinking? You have the brilliant idea spark in your eyes.”

“Well, I was thinking about the Triwizard Tournament. We need to not let people get angry at Harry. Also, we need to save Cedric’s life. Wouldn’t we be able to do both if our names came out of the Goblet.” Luna explained.

“That way we can protect Cedric’s life. And people would not think Harry rigged the competition. They might even assume it was a malfunction because one person from each house at Hogwarts was chosen.” Lucy was already on board with this plan.

“And it would provide us with another opportunity for house unity. As the representatives of our houses, we can provide an example by sticking together.” Luna looked pleased with herself. A feeling, she utterly deserved. 

“Hence, Ravenclaw. Such an amazing idea! We can also use the incident with Voldemort at the end as the instigating event for the Lost Generation since we will get to see all those Death Eaters!”

“Thanks. How exactly would we do that though?” Luna questioned. 

“With Dumbledore’s help, we can make a list of all the Death Eaters we saw. I know who they all are but we can’t exactly tell that to Cedric and Harry hence help from Dumbledore. Then, I can talk to Draco my idea for Lost Generation. I think it would be best coming from me, someone who has unofficially emancipated from her parents at a young age. If he goes for founding the Lost Generation, which I am hoping he will - he is not a bad kid, than Draco and I will take this idea public. I can announce to the school that the Hogwarts Champions refuse to name the Death Eaters to anyone but their children. All the Hogwarts students can ask us about their parents in secret. If they are the children of Death Eaters and want to join the Lost Generation, we will help them. If they do not want to leave their Death Eater parents, we will not judge them. We will keep their secret.”

“Dumbledore will provide them with housing and hopefully my campaign will provide them with financial support.” Luna piped excitedly. 

“Exactly!”

 

⚡  
ᒡ◯ᵔ◯ᒢ

Lucy wanted to spend Friday lazily at home with the Lovegoods. They spent the day playing Exploding Snap and listening to Mr Lovegood’s stories. The girls made sandwiches for lunch - peanut butter and nutella (It was Lucy’s idea). When Mr Lovegood started on the dinner, the girls went into the his study. 

“I can’t believe you are leaving us the day after tomorrow and that Operation LuLu is officially starting.” Luna sighed.

“I know. I wish you started at Hogwarts this year as well. The idea of going through the first year of Hogwarts alone is terrifying.” Lucy confessed.

“Do you fret about meeting people for the first time?” 

“Constantly.”

“I think when I eventually meet Dobby, I might burst into tears…” Luna admitted. 

They settled on the floor by the window. The exact spots they sat when they first talked about the dream. 

Lucy grabbed Luna’s hand. “I think I might burst into tears when I meet everyone!”

“Really? You mean I am not just being irrational?” Luna sounded timid and hopeful. 

“Of course! I love you guys. I loved you guys for months. I love you guys like I have never loved anything in my life.”

“More than you love books?”

“Even more than my love for books! Luna, I don’t know how to explain it. But I feel like I have known you guys for years. I have watched you grow. I have watched you go through terrible things and achieve amazing things. I feel highly protective of all of you. Even though you do not truly need any protection because you guys are the most courageous, the most intelligent, the strongest and the most amazing people possibly ever.”

Lucy might have been crushing Luna’s hand. But Luna did not mind. She appreciated the zealousness of Lucy’s love. Lucy did not love like an eleven-year-old. She loved like she had lived for hundreds of years and her loved ones were what kept her human. 

“Who is going to be the hardest to meet?” Luna pondered too innocently.

“Is this your way of asking me who are my favorites?” Lucy chuckled. 

Luna just kept looking at her expectantly. 

“Well, you were obviously one of my favorites.”

Luna beamed. “Who else?”

“Harry is definitely one of my favorites. And I feel cliché saying this. He is going to be everyone’s favorite soon enough. Actually, he is already people’s favorite. But I don’t love him because of all the hero stuff. I love him because he went through so much suffering before he went to Hogwarts and he stayed strong. He did not have to participate in the war. He could have take his inheritance and buy himself a new life. He chose to stay and to fight a war for a world he just got introduced to. He is an inspiration in so many ways. But in his heart he is a little boy who was mistreated for years. My kindred spirit. I want to put him in my pocket and protect him.”

“He is the first person who ever asked me to a party as a friend.” Luna stated as-a-matter-of-factly as if it had already happened.

“He is!” Lucy smiled. “Draco is another one that is special for me. He also suffers because of his parents but not like in a way I or Harry have. It is easy to rebel against ‘the man’ when ‘the man’ has been awful to you. Draco had a great childhood. He has no reason to rebel. It’s understandable that he didn’t. And even though it takes Draco a while to see the light, his actions at the end of the war decided the fate of the war.”

“I’d like to imagine he took care of me while I was kept in his dungeons.”

“That’s a nice thought. I hope he did. I really feel for him. His parents also failed him. This time around when given a the choice, I think he will also accomplish great things.”

“I think he will too.” Luna concurred.

“I actually have a theory about him. I think his animosity towards Harry stems from the crush he has on Harry.”

“Oh, you think so?”

“Yeah. And I think maybe this time around they can end up together.”

“But what about Ginny?”

“I actually think she might end up falling for someone else this time around. But I would like to not disclose that name at the moment. Anyways, who are you most excited about meeting?” Lucy asked.

“Other than Dobby? Neville and Ginny! I’m so glad you came up with the idea to work on the muggle column together with Ginny.”

“I am also excited getting to know new people!” Lucy pointed out. “I think Harry’s circle of friends was too small. With everything he had to do, he really could not afford it to be bigger. But this time around I want all of us to be a big family. So many of these kids fought in the war. Some of them died. They deserve respect. They deserve to be known. And loved.”

“The extent of your heart never ceases to amaze me.”

Lucy blushed. “Stop it!”

They talked for a while. No serious stuff, though, since everything was already planned. They talked about their feelings and their hopes until Mr Lovegood informed them dinner was ready. 

 

⚡  
ᒡ◯ᵔ◯ᒢ

 

After breakfast on Saturday, the girls and Mr Lovegood headed to Diagon Alley. They had planned a nice leisurely outing. First, they would get Lucy’s wand. Then, they would shop around for fun. 

Lucy was buzzing with excitement. Mostly because of the wand. The tinkling bell of Ollivander’s reminded her of Harry, which helped calm her nerves. Mr Lovegood took the chair. Luna and Lucy were facing each other. Luna held both of Lucy’s hands and murmured reassurances. 

Mr Ollivander joined them with a soft “Good morning.” 

“Good morning, Mr Ollivander!” Lucy squealed. “Is it done? Can I try it?” No time for niceties. She was in trouble if this wand did not work. 

“Yes, yes. Of course, dear. Here you go.” Mr Ollivander handed Lucy a wand. It was a very light brown. It looked raw, probably because it had no polish and its edges were barely smooth. The wand was twisted, almost looked like a unicorn horn. The resin, at the end of it, looked like a piece of diamond fused into the wood. It looked a bit shorter than the ones Lucy had seen in her dream. “Jack Pine and unicorn hair with resin. Seven inches.”

Lucy reached for the wand with quite trepidation. However, all of her doubts went away the moments her fingers tingled with warmness when she touched the wand. She let go of the breath she was unconsciously holding in, raised her hand and brought it down. As the wand swished down, it spurted many sparks in the prettiest pastel colors. 

“Good! Very good! It appears that you have found your perfect match.” Mr Ollivander patted Lucy on he back.

“Thank you! Thank you so much Mr Ollivander. It really is perfect!”

“I still have to put some finishing touches on it, though. Do you guys mind coming back in a couple of hours?”

“Actually, can it stay like this? I want it to stay true to its nature.”

Mr Ollivander conceded. Mr Lovegood handed him seven galleons and took the girls out of the shop. Mr Lovegood and Luna introduced Lucy to wizard sweets, foods and drinks. They showed her wizard toys, although no toy was bought. They spent most of their time at the bookstores. Mr Lovegood told them that they each would get a book as a “end of the summer” gift. Luna knew what she wanted the moment she saw “Illustrated Guide to Wrackspurts”. Lucy, on the other hand, requested to check out all the bookstores, keep a list of books she wanted and make a choice after checking them all out. She ended up choosing “Charms for Children: Providing a Magical Life for Your Child on a Budget”. 

“Interesting choice” Mr Lovegood commented. 

“Well… It has a lot whimsical charms in it and I think my life could use any positivity I can find. Also there is a spell in there that I kind of need for my gift for Luna. Can we visit muggle London next? I need some supplies from a craft store for Luna’s gift.”

They spent a couple of hours walking around muggle London. Both of the girls were having a lot of fun. Muggle London was as much fun as wizarding London. The girls wanted to spent most of their times in the music store and the craft store. Saying that Luna loved the craft store would be an understatement. That night after Luna and her father were asleep, Lucy quietly went to the living room to work on her little project. She took out the bag she got from the craft store. She looked at all the fake flowers she bought: the daisies, small adorable succulents, cherry blossoms and violets. She started with the daisies. In a couple of hours, she was all done and back in her bed sleeping. 

Lucy woke up to the noise Luna was making as she was getting ready in the morning. She got ready as well trying to not focus on the fact that this was THE day. It was the day she was going to leave the Lovegood’s and go to Hogwarts. ‘Alone. Without Luna. Alone.’ Lucy kept thinking. She tried to focus on other things. Like her little project. She brought the craft store bag and the Charms for Children book to breakfast. This got him strange looks when she entered the kitchen. 

“So…” she started as she was settling down in what was now her spot on the kitchen table. “There is a charm on this book. Might be the biggest reason I bought it… Anyways, it is supposed to make fake flowers look real and cute like almost sparkling or something.”

Both Luna and her dad were wondering where this was going. 

“I was hoping that you could do that charm for me.” Lucy continued. 

“Of course, dear.” Mr Lovegood was still not sure where this was going. 

Lucy took out a headband covered with cherry blossoms from the bag. She handed it along with the book to Mr Lovegood. The charm is on the marked page. Mr Lovegood worked his magic and the headband looked dazzling. 

Lucy beamed immediately. “Oh, it worked even better then I hoped it would!” She put the headband on. “What do you think?” she asked Luna.

“It looks lovely. So very lovely!” answered Luna. 

Lucy plainly said “Good”. She took out a daisy chain crown and handed it to Mr Lovegood. “Because I made you one also” she added. 

“Really?” Luna reached for the crown after her dad did the charm. It looked great on her had with her light blond hair. 

“I also made two extra ones. One for you, so that you can give it to any new friends you might make who are gender norm bashing wonders.” Lucy explained as she took out a crown that looked like it was made out of branches. There was an elegant bundle of succulents on it. Luna gave her a side hug. “One for me, so that I can give to it to any new friends I might make who have awesomely thick hair” Luna said as she took out a half crown made of violets with hair clips at the ends. “She can wear this on the back of her head. Since it is only half a crown, it is more subtle. The clips make it sturdier. I also have found a charm for fizzy hair in the book on page 95. So the half crown will also, help her with her on humid days.” Lucy handed the crowns to Mr Lovegood. 

“I am sure they will love these.” Luna exclaimed. “Whoever they are” she added a bit belatedly. However, her father was busy with the last two crowns to pay her too much attention. 

“I got you something too!” Luna left the kitchen and came back within minutes. “I got it as a “Welcome to Hogwarts’ gift. I was actually going to give it to you at the train station but now seems like a good time as any.” She handed Lucy a nicely wrapped gift. 

Lucy reached for the gift as if it was on fire. Other than the supplies she bought for Hogwarts, she had the following as possessions: money, clothes, a couple of pairs of shoes, several hair ties, her cherry blossoms headband, the Charms for Children book, and… Nothing. That was it. When she packed her suitcase, she only wanted to bring the most essential things. That was everything she owned in life. Which was fine. Great actually. Because another thing she owned now was her freedom. However, deep down, she was still a child. She missed the books, toys, accessories and all the rest of her stuff. On the other hand, she definitely did not miss the misery she felt constantly. She would never give up what she had now for all the books, toys or anything else in the world. 

“Lucy? Aren’t you going to open it?” Luna put her hand over Lucy’s.

Lucy came back to reality and smiled. “Of course.” She opened the wrapping carefully. She was definitely going to keep the wrapping. It was a book. It was the Hobbit! Lucy gasped and she looked up at Luna.

“You mentioned it was one of your favorites and you did not have any books with you…” Luna trailed off. 

Lucy hugged her. “Thank you! You are truly the best friend I ever had!”

After the excitement over the flower crowns and the book died down, all of them focused on eating. They were all feeling gloomy and did not know what to say. Lucy kept catching Luna giving her sad smiles. Lucy was mostly packed up but Luna helped with some last minute things. By the time they got to Platform nine and three quarters, everyone was still being eerily quiet. 

Lucy cleared her throat. “I have never felt sad when I separated from people before. No matter what happens next…” Lucy let her voice die. ‘If I Dumbledore changes his mind about helping me. Or the troll kills me. Or I make all the wrong choices and end up a bigger villain than Voldemort.’ Lucy thought but did not speak out loud. 

“No matter what happens next, I at least spent this time with you and felt more loved than I have ever felt in my life.” She continued. 

Luna hugged her and did not let go. Lucy could feel Luna’s tears on her neck. 

“Yes. Well. Um. It was a pleasure and a privilege for us to meet you.” Mr Lovegood was having trouble stringing words together. 

Luna and her dad helped Lucy settle into the compartment next to Harry and Ron’s. Luna hugged her one last time. 

“Team LuLu forever.” whispered Lucy. 

“Write to me tonight?” asked Luna. 

“Sure. I demand a prompt reply, though.”

“Of course. You know I am never taking of my daisies, right?”

“You better not.” Lucy looked up to Mr Lovegood. “I will tell Professor Dumbledore to contact you as soon as he can spare a moment.”

“Good. Good. Take care, Lucy. Don’t be a stranger.”

“Oh, need not worry. You are stuck with me for an eternity. You will never get rid of me.”

“We better not.” Luna sniffed and finally pulled back. With Luna’s “Go, get them!”, they left the compartment. Lucy had a few moment to pull herself together so she focused on that. 

“What’s your Quidditch team?” Ron asked Harry unknowingly giving Lucy her cue.

“Er - I don’t know any.” Harry confessed. 

“What’s Quidditch?” Lucy interrupted giving them an awkward smile and even more awkward little wave. “I’m Lucy by the way.” she introduced herself as she sat next to Harry. 

“Harry. That’s Ron.” Harry provided when it became clear that Ron was too dumbfounded to mind his manners.

“You guys don’t… Oh, you wait, it’s the best game in the world” Ron began explaining Quidditch. Clearly that was more important than something as trivial as people’s names. 

‘He is sitting next to me. This is even harder than I thought it would be! I was not ready for this. I wonder if it’s too late to abandon the operation and go back to the Lovegood’s. How can I love him so much already? How can his hair look even unrulier from up close. It kind of matches my wild hair. He looks so excited about the idea of Quidditch. Is he going to like me? Oh my, what if he thinks I am an annoying twat!’ Lucy thought, clearly not paying any attention to what Ron was saying. 

The compartment door slid open. Before the three boys came in and Draco ruined his chances at a friendship with Harry, Lucy jumped to her feet. 

“Oh sweet Merlin! You are Draco Malfoy!!” Lucy hugged him. She was trying to be as extra as possible. Also, this meant that the boys could not come in the compartment. 

“Do I know you?” sneered Draco. He had a reputation to uphold after all. 

“No! But your cousin, Luna, is my bestest friend in the whole wide world! So… Even though I don’t know you, this makes you my first friend at Hogwarts.” She turned towards Crabbe and Goyle. “Do you guys mind if I steal your friend for a bit? I need to discuss some familial things with him. It’s a bit private, you see. I’m sure he can tell you all about them later.” With the sweetest smile she could muster, she dragged Draco in and closed the compartment door. She might also have shoved Draco into sitting next to Ron.

“Luna is super excited about meeting you next year. I think it upsets her that you guys have never met. But she loves you dearly anyways. She is amazing. I’m sure you will love her when you meet her as well. I can’t wait until she turns eleven and joins us at Hogwarts next year.”

Draco opened his mouth but nothing came out because he had no idea how to respond to any of that. 

“You’ve never met your cousin?” Harry asked shyly. 

Draco opened his mouth again. This time he looked like he knew what he was going to say and it was going to be vicious. ‘Classic Draco…’ Lucy thought ‘his usual defense is always a mean offense.’ Hence, she never gave him the chance.

“No, he has not! And Luna is not even the only family member his parents have shut out from their lives. You have never met your other cousin Nymphodora Tonks either, have you? I hear she is awesome! She is a metamorphmagus, you know?”

“But why?” Harry whispered. 

“I know! It’s so senseless!! His parents hold certain beliefs that these other family members don’t. But that is not fair to Draco. A person needs as much as good family members as one can get. And Draco, these are some wonderful people you are missing out on. That is not fair to you! And they are missing out on you, which is not fair to them either! Luna has lost her mother so it is just her and her dad. She could have really used a cousin while growing up” Lucy started to tear up. More like she finally let go. She wanted to burst into tears since she butted in the Quidditch conversation. “I mean the fact that you and Luna lack extra love and support in your lives just because your parent’s stubbornness crushes my heart.” Lucy covered her face with her hands and was honestly sobbing now. “I would have given anything to have nice family members who love me in my life.”

Harry put a hand on her shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

Lucy was feeling lighter. Crying helped. Plus, she was feeling a bit smug because she had effectively stopped Draco from uttering a single mean word so far. 

“Everything. I’m scared. I don’t think I made a mistake but I am scared that I am not going to be able to pull this off.”

“Pull what off?” Ron chimed. 

“If I tell you guys, you can’t tell anyone.” Lucy finally looked up. “I ran away from home when I got my Hogwarts letter. I was thinking about killing myself because my parents beat me all the time and I had enough. Running away was not an option because I am not delusional enough to think I can live by myself at my age. Reporting them was not an option because even though we are British, we don’t live in UK. The country we lived in doesn’t have child protective services. But then I got my Hogwarts letter and I thought I could just live here until I graduate and then I will basically be an adult. I never have to go back home again. We don’t have any other family. So, no one could help me. But now that I am here, I feel so alone. I have spoken to Professor Dumbledore and he looked into my situation and decided to assist me. But I am going to be all alone. Alone for the holidays. Alone for the summers. Alone for my birthday. All my friends will have their families to get back to and I will be alone.” Fat tears were running down Lucy’s cheeks. “I don’t have a family. I barely have any money. I have no one to take care of me when I fall sick. I don’t even have a last name. Because I asked Dumbledore to take my last name off of official documents so that NO ONE can EVER send me back. I rather die than be sent back.” 

The boys looked so very lost. They had no idea what to do or say. 

Lucy brushed off her tears and tried to give the boys a broken smile. “It’s okay. At least I won’t get beaten up by adults three times my size. And it’ll be cool. I’ll be Lucy just Lucy. Like Madonna or Merlin.”

Harry squared his jaw. “How about Potter? Lucy Potter sounds cool.”

This was unexpected. Lucy has no idea what was going on. She managed to say very eloquently “What?”

“I practically have no one either. My parents died when I was a baby. I live with my aunt and uncle and they treat me like shit. They either use me as a slave or lock me in a cupboard. So, I am alone too. I would love to have a nice family member who loves me in my life. What do you say? I’ll adopt you and you can be my sister.”

“Wait. You, Harry Bloody Potter, have been mistreated by the family members you have been living with the first eleven years of your life?” Draco sounded outraged. 

Lucy was too shook to fully appreciate Draco’s response. 

“That can’t be legal.” Ron commented carefully. He did not want these poor souls to get their hopes up. Someone needed to be clearheaded. He did not know it yet but he was going to appreciate it wholeheartedly when being clearheaded became Hermione’s job. 

Lucy, on the other hand, was very much so on board with this plan. It never occurred to her that this barely eleven year old little Harry would make such an offer. It fitted perfectly into Operation LuLu. It felt too good to be true. ‘Oh Harry, my kindred spirit… I would try to give you the moon if you asked me.’ Lucy thought.

“It doesn’t have to be legal.” she argued. “If Dumbledore changes my name in the official documents, no one can prove that my name is not Potter. How could they possibly find out? I was not even born in the country. We can make it legal when I am of age. I would not need any official documents outside Hogwarts until then I’m seventeen anyways. I can lay low for a year and then make everything official when I turn eighteen. We don’t need to have legal adoptions papers. As long as we are family at our hearts, nothing else really matters.”

She turned towards Harry. “Are you sure you want this? You seriously do not know me at all…”

“Look, Lucy. I’m alone. You’re alone. I recently found out that my parents left me a good amount of money. I can take care of you. I can be a great big brother, if you give me the chance.”

‘Oh, Harry, you have no idea how much I truly love you’ Lucy was proud to not utter this our loud. She put her right hand on her heart. “I, Lucy Potter, promise that I will be a caring, loving sister to you, Harry Potter. As long as I shall live your uncle and your aunt will never be able to torment you ever again. I…”

“You can’t promise that.” Harry interjected despondently. 

“Oh, oh I definitely can. I am resourceful. Just you wait and see.” She reached and squeezed his left hand. “I promise to never let you fight alone, to create joy in your life and to threaten the people with violence if they ever try hurt you.”

Harry put his right hand to his heart. “I, Harry Potter, promise that I will be a caring, loving brother to you, Lucy Potter. As long as I shall live you will never be alone again. I promise to always take care of you when you are sick, to always have your back in any situation, to provide for you as long as you need me to and to do my absolute best to keep a smile on your face.”

Harry and Lucy were still holding hands while their other hands were over their hearts when Hermione came in. 

“What has been going on?” she said looking at the weird situation with Harry and Lucy and at indescribable faces Ron and Draco were making. 

“I was just feeling overwhelmed about being a muggleborn and not knowing anything and Harry was comforting me.” Lucy explained. 

“Oh, well it is time to put your robes on. We are almost there.” Draco cleared his throat and left with a nod. Lucy, who already had her robe on, grabbed Hermione and said “Why don’t we give them some privacy. Plus, you are a muggleborn, right? You seem to be on top of this. What is your secret?” 

As train slowed down, Harry appeared with his robes. He held Lucy’s hand. “So when and how are we going to talk to Professor Dumbledore?” he whispered. 

“First we have the boat ride. Then, we get to the castle. We have to talk to him before the first years are sorted in their houses because they read our names out loud to be sorted. I have been told that there is going to be a professor there and we can tell her that we have to talk to Professor Dumbledore and that it is an emergency.”

 

⚡  
ᒡ◯ᵔ◯ᒢ

 

“So?” Ron asked expectantly when Harry and Lucy came back. 

“Meet Lucy Potter, my sister.” Harry smiled. 

Ron pounced them and they all shared a group hug. The hug helped ease Lucy’s tenseness.

“I hope we’ll all be sorted into Gryffindor together!” Ron remarked into Lucy’s hair. 

Lucy caught Draco staring at them across the room. He cocked his head to the side. The question he was asking was clear. Lucy gave him an honest toothy smile. He smiled back and hurriedly turned away. 

First, Harry was called “Potter, Harry”. He got sorted in to Gryffindor. Then Professor McGonagall called “Potter, Lucy”. Lucy stepped forward. There was not much whispers left. Potter was a common last name, after all. It was highly likely for two unrelated students to have the same common last name. Lucy heard a small voice when the hat was put over her head. 

“Hmm. Another difficult case. Intelligence and diligence. Plus, your innovative thinking would make you an excellent Ravenclaw. Oh goodness, there is also rashness and the courage. You could roar with the greatest Gryffindors. Where, oh where shall I put you? Hufflepuff seems like the most natural choice. Because being clever and brave are just qualities you possess. Who you are is kind and loyal. That is what you normally value the most. But interesting… Today you sit here in front of the whole school with determination to do whatever it takes to achieve your ambitious goals. Today you are using your cunningness overshadows your intelligence, your courage and your kindness.”

‘Yes! Yes, please put me in Syletherin.’ thought Lucy. 

“SYLTERIN!” roared the hat.


End file.
